One wild ride

Alamogordo Daily NewsBy Michael Johnson, Managing Editor

Posted:
10/30/2012 10:12:06 PM MDT

Click photo to enlarge

Tech Sgt. Joshua M. Pina talks with three Alamogordo High School students on Tuesday afternoon about possible careers in the U.S. Air Force. Pina was on hand to answer questions about "Rapid Strike,' simulator ride experience, below, that immerses visitors in the high-tech world of the Air Force.

Have you ever watched F-22 Raptors soar across the skies over the Tularosa Basin and wondered what it would feel like to be in the pilot's seat?

How about being a part of a C-17 cargo drop in hostile territory, or a member of combat controller ground surveillance team?

Many Alamogordo High School students were treated to such an experience Tuesday as the U.S. Air Force's "Rapid Strike," a $1.5 million simulator ride, pulled into town for the day.

On Wednesday, the simulator will visit Tularosa High School before moving on to Albuquerque and, eventually, Los Angeles.

Rapid Strike is a simulator ride experience that immerses visitors in the high-tech world of the U.S. Air Force. Visitors board the ride, which lets them experience a real Air Force mission that includes an F-22 tandem flight, a C-17 cargo drop, combat controller ground surveillance, satellite communications and a Reaper missile strike all from a first-person point-of-view.

According to Tech Sgt. Joshua M. Pina, an Air Force recruiter based at White Sands Mall, the trailer-borne ride is about six minutes long and seats 12 to 14 people.

Alamogordo High School is only the second high school in the nation to host the simulator. Tuesday was only the fourth time the ride simulator has been used.

"This is a tool that just came out Oct. 1," Pina said. "It's allows recruitable type people to become interested in the Air Force.

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They can see what it's like to fly and experience some of the missions that we do."

In the opening minutes, riders are instructed via video to be seated. From a first-person perspective, riders climb into the cockpit of an F-22 and begin thundering down the runaway. Simultaneously, a series of hydraulics pitches the simulator cabin upward, giving the rider the feeling of an actual take-off.

The video simulator then takes several twists and turns through mountainous terrain while the ride's hydraulics respond accordingly. There are no seat belts; there is only a bar, much like those on a roller-coaster, on which to grab hold. A turn to the left or right pitches the rider in the corresponding direction.

"We're trying to get all the kids we can to experience this, especially the engineering kids so they can look at how the hydraulics and computer systems work," Pina said. "These kids are going to be the ones developing the next generation of the Rapid Strike. The kids look pretty excited when they come off the ride, I can tell you that."

Most of the AHS students who experienced the ride before lunch could be heard saying things such as "Wow" and "That was sick!"

At a computer station toward the rear of the trailer, a computer shows, via a camera positioned inside the ride capsule, two windows one displaying a view of the ride's occupants and another showing the video the occupants are watching.

"This helps the technician operating the ride see what's going on inside the capsule," Pina said.

"If someone does have an accident inside, we can shut it down. It's a safety feature, but it also monitors the hydraulics and everything else."

Many students took joy in watching their friends react to specific scenes in the video.

"What were you shooting at?" one student asked a classmate upon her exit from the ride. She had witnessed her friend pretend as though she were shooting at enemy targets in the video.

Pina said no student became ill on the ride.

"One of the teachers did become a little light-headed," he said.

Pina said the technology involved in operating the Rapid Strike simulator may be enough to inspire a future career.

"There is so much technology involved with something like this," he said. "Kids may say, 'Hey, I might want to build something like that when I get out of high school.'"

The main goal, Pina said, is to use Rapid Strike as a recruiting tool for the Air Force.

"It puts the Air Force in the public eye and sparks that interest," he said. "The kids can ride and see what it's like to be in an actual cockpit of aircraft. They get a bird's eye view. Maybe this will motive them to become pilots or the future engineers for the Air Force."Contact Michael Johnson at mjohnson@alamogordonews.com. Follow him on Twitter @alamoeditormike.